Apparatus for applying insulation to electrical conductors.



No. 361,021. V PATENTED JULY 23, 1907. L. w. DowNBs.

APPARATUS POR APPLYING INSULATICN T0 ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 7, v1904.-

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

A L I uvnfoz Om (A), #4g-Wm PATENTED JULY 23, 1907.

, L. W. DOWNES. APPARATUS FOR APPLYING INSULATION T0 ELECTRICAL GONDUGTORS.

vAPPLIOA'IION FILED JULY 7, 1904.

@Y LIT uw mms3* 0% @kw ysmasul/ LOUIS W. DOWNES, Ol*1 PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

APPARATUS FOR No. 861,021. y 4

Specification of Letters Patent.

APPLYING INSULATION TO ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS.

Patented July 23, 1907.

Application .tiledy July 7, 1.904. Serial No. 215,694.

To all trimm it may concern.:

Be it known that I, Louis W. DOwNEs, of Providence. Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement, in Apparatus for Applying Insulation to Electrical Conductors, which invention is fully set forth in the following specilication.

The present invention et insists of an improved apparatus for applying Iibrous insulating inatcrial-par ticnlarly asbestos-to the surface of an electric conductor or wire; by spil-ally wrapping said material about the wire. The apparatus is especially designedl for the production oi what is known as inagnetzwire As is well known. asbestos fibers are short and relatively weak: when worked up into sliver or analogous torni. there is little coherence between the tibers and they -pull apart or break under slight strain; asbestos wool in the iorni o sheets. strands with substantially no twist. or sliver (better known to the trade as roving,) is therefore extremely delicate and possesses hardly enough tenacity to support its own weight. even iu short lengths. For these reasons it has been customary to apply asbestos to conductors in the lortu oi yarn, which is asbestos sliver twisted to give it greater tenatity. While the formation ol" the asbestos into yarn enables it to be more readily handled, there is litt-le, if any, advantage alter it is applied to the conductor. 'There are some disadvantages; the natural limi piness of asbestos is more appa rent in the yarn than in sliver, tor example. Consequently. a wrapping ol asbestos 'yarn presents greater unevenness or less uniformity in thickness than a wrapping of asbestos in the t form of untwisted strands. sheets or sliver; furthermore, when applied in thesliver or analogous torni, the fibers adhere to the Wire in a loose, tluft'y or tloeeulent condition, enabling them to be readily compacted into an even layer,r and to be formed into an insulatin'g Covering a minimum thickness, such as required in the ease ot' magnet-wire. The subsequent finishing operations can therefore be more readily and e il ect ively carried out When the tibers are applied in sliver or analogous forni.

The principal object in view isto' provide an apparatus capable of applying asbestos in the t'orm oi substantially untwisted strands. bands orsheets. to an electrical conductor, with the advantages, principally. that the asbestos in this lorm is cheaper. and that the subsequent iinisliiinj; operations can be more effectively and satisfacen-ily performed. l am aware that it has heretofore been proposed to wrap asbestos sliver about a wire'by causing the wire instead ol the asbestos to rotate; but this method is seriously objectionable, ii not impracticable. In covering heavy conductors. t'or example, it involves rotation oi heavy masses ol' met-.Ll which is both a dillieult and dangerous operation. And while means have heret'olore been provided i'or wrapping asbestos yarn on a wire by revolving thc .yarn about. the wire. no means have, I believe, been heretofore devised capable oi applying delicate. substantially untwist ed asbestos strands, sheets or sliver to a wire in a similarmanner.

In apparatus embodying my present invention. the means for feeding the asbestos to the wire rotate about the latter, and the asbestos is conveyed in a loose and floceuleut band, narrow sheet'l or layer to the point 'ol' its application to the wire. being thereby relieved oi all strain tending to break the same.

In the preferred.form ol apparatus herein shown. the asbestos iorinedinto an untwisted strand while in transit from a. hopper to the point oi its application to y the wire.

These and other features of the apparatus will be more fully described by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l. is an elevation ot a machine embodying m v invention; Fig. 2 is an elevat ion ol part ol the machiinI right angles to Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a. vertical sectional view through the rotary carrier or table. and parts there on,`on line f'oi Fig. 5; Figs. l and 5 are tr-.insw-rse sectional views, on a. reduced scale. the t'oriner on line 4-4and the latter on line 5-5 Fig. 3. i

Reierring lirst to Figs. l and 2, pulley ti. driven from a suitable source of power, `arries a bevel gear meshing with a siniilary gear 8 on a vertical shalt El. A handle 10 at the upper end of the shaft serves to turn the parts of the machine to any desired position when the power driving means are disconnected. worin ll on shalt t) drives a worm-wheel l2 (Fig. 2) on a shalt lil; gear wheel 14 on the other end of said shalt slowly ro rates a large gear wheel 1S fixed on shalt It) through gear-ii/heel l5. shalt IG and gear wheel l? 'Itho electric conductor or wire 2t) pas c tliiimgh a reservoir 2l, Containing a liquid or semiliquid adhesive material (preferably shellac). through the rotary carrier 22 wherelhe insulation is applied. through a guide 24, andthen several times around a rotating drum 23 Iixed on shaft 19. Rotation of drum 23 slowly draws the wire through the machine; from said drinn the covered wire may pass to suitable inishing apparatus, such. for example. as shown in in v Iai ent No. 534,785 oi l"ebruary 2li. 1895. tarrier 22 is rotated by gears 21'). 2li and 27. the Iirst on shalt fl.

Referring now. more particularly to Figs. f5. 'l and 7i, it will be seen that the mechanism lor applying the asbestos lo the wire is mounted in ornpon and rotates with the carrier. 2% is a hollow sind or axle Iixed te a p-.irtJ'Qll oi the main I'rame b v a nut ltl, 'l`he carrier ct'nnprises a plate or table Ill. which turnsthe upper extremity ol' axle ZS. also a cup-like casing 32 having a central sleeve il?, which lits looselyv about, (le-.ir 1T lixcd to sleeve Zi im loosely upon and turns on axle 2S. parts rotary motion to the carrier about the axle 'Zh'.

lll() lili) llt),

Six short. Avertical shafts 34 to 39 are journaled in and project; above and 'behm'lable 31. Wheels 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 are removably fixed on the upper ends of shafts 35, 36, `37, 3S and 39 respectively, by nuts 46. The

to card clothing. These carding wheels and the belt' are in operation rotated in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 5 by means of the following gearing located beneath table 3l; gearwbeels 5l. 52 on shafts 38 and 39 mesh with each other; gear 52 in turn meshes with a xed gear 53 preferably castiintegral with axle 28. Shaft 39 also carries a sprocket wheel 54. A sprocket chain 55 passes over said wheel 54 and around other sprocket wheels 56, 57, 58and 59 on shafts 37, 36, 35 and 34, respectively. Preferably the diameter of sprocket 54 is slightly less than that of '56, 4of 56 slightly less than that of 57, and of 57 slightly less than 58, producingl corresponding differences in the speed of movement of the parts carried bythe shafts of these sprockets. i

60 is a chamber or hopper for asbestos located above table 31 within an annular shell 6l which incloses all of the mechanism above the table; a removable cover 62 for the shell also closes the hopper 60. The wire passes through an opening G3 in the cover. A `feedplateA movable on two guide rods 64 is impelled forward by springs 65, tending to force the` asbestos through the discharge opening at the contracted end of the hopper.V Any other suitable means for feeding the'asbestos to the rolls may, of course, be employed. i

66 is a curved shield extending partly around the wire and preventing asbestos, except that delivered from belt 50, from attaching itself to the sticky wire.y

In the operation of the apparatus the wire 20 slowly`r drawn upward through the receptacle 21 and carrier 22 receives in the former a coating of adhesive material. The hopper 60 is preferably filled with as.

bestos fiber previously carded to bring it to such con` dition as to be worked to the best advantage; goodv results may, however, be obtained byl filling the hopper with asbestos fiber in its raw, Woolly, uncarded state. The' asbestos fiber caused to protrude fromv the delivery end of the hopper between the carding and feeding rolls or wheels 44 and 45 is drawn from the hopper by the action of said rolls. The inclination of the carding teeth enroll 45 causes the asbestos to adhere thereto rather than to roll 44. Roll 43, also having inclined teeth, and rotating with greater surface speed than roll/ 45, picks up and disengages the asbestos from the latter and carries it forward until it isr in turn picked up by the inclined teeth of roll 42, the surface speed of which is greater than that of roll 43. .Roll 41 disengages the asbestos from roll 42 and delivers it onto conveyer belt or apron 50, the surface speed of which is preferably yfaster Y, than that of roll 4l, which in turn delivers it into fibers into a band or narrow sheet of substantially untwisted parallelized fibers, similar to but wider than Y timed. As the sliver-like band is supported 'practi-l cally up to the point oi its application to the wire, no tensile strain being placed upon it, there is practically no danger of .breaking the band with` consequent imperfections in the covering. Theylnovement of the apron or belt 50 on its pulleys 47 and 48, simultaneous with the rotation of the carrier around the non-rotating wire, is of importance in effecting apractically continuous spiral winding or Wrapping of the fibers upon the longitudinally moving Wire. The linear move* ment of the card belt continuously advances ber bearing portions thereof to the Wire as the belt isearried around the `wire by rotation of the carrier. The Wire or conductor leavesthe 'carrier bearing a spirally wound adherent covering of asbestos fibers in a somewhatk flocculent or fluffy though materially straightcned state. In this condition. the covering may, by subsequent operations, be more readily compacted, matted or compressed into a thin coherent fabric of uniform thickness, than if the asbestos be applied,

for example, inthe form of yarn. From the apparatus herein described, the conductor may pass to any suitable apparatus for compressing and compacting the covering, for example,V that described in Irny patent above mentioned. The covering mayfalso be impregnated orcoated with any suitable fire-profit ing and water-proofing` composition. One, two or more layers of ashes-tos may beapplied, according to the thickness of insulation desired. K

' `The invention is not .restricted to the particular "form of apparatus herein illustrated landliescribed, as modifications may be. made without departing therefrom. v -My applications Sr. No'. 215,695, 'led July 7, 190,4,

and Sr. No. 265,389, filed .Tune 15, 1905, illustrate' other forms in whichthe generic disclosed may be'embodied.

What I claim is:

'inven tion herein aboutvtlie conducting@ hopper or chamber on thel carrier .for the fibrous materiaL-carGiDg means on the carrier for` conveying fibrous material from the hopperr 'andffor delivering the same intocontact with the surface of the con-` ductor in the form of a band or strand, and driving connec tions for actuating 'said carding means while the'carrier rotates.

1. In apparatus for applying fibrous insulating matkerialf,A ,I to a conductor, a carrier and means for rotating the same 2. In apparatus for applying fibrous insulatingV material' to a conductor, a carrier and means for rotating the sameA about the conductor,' aA hopper or chamber on the carrier f for the fibrous material. carding means onthe carrier forl conveying fibrous material' frozn'ithehopper and for delivering the same into contaetwith the vsurface 'of the conductor, said means comprisinga traveling feed surface supportingvth'e fibrousmaterial and moving in closeproxf imity to the conductor at the vpoint; the fibrous' material is applied' thereto. and driving connections actuatingv said ear-ding means while the carrier rotates.v 3. ln apparatus for applying fibrous insulating ,material to a conduetorfa carrier and means for rotating the same about the conductor, a hopper o r chamber on the carrier for the fibrous material, carding means on the carrier for conveying fibrous material from the hopper and for deliv- V@ring the same into contact with the surface of the conductor, saidY means comprising carding wheels or rolls 'and n conveyer belt 'receiving the fibrous'material from the rolls and moving in close proximity to the conductor at the point thevbrous material is applied thereto, and driv ing connections actuating said carding means while the carrier rotates.

4. In apparatus for applying fibrous insulating material to a conductor.l the combination of a carrier comprising a supporting plate or table and having an axial opening through which the conductor passes, means for rotating the carrieron its axis, a hopper or chamber on one side of said table for thefibrous material, carding means mounted on the same side of the table for conveying fibrous material from the hopper and for delivering the same into contact With the surface'of-the conductor in theform of a band or strand, and driving connections mounted on the otlier side of the tableffor actuating the carding means while the carrier rotates.

In apparatus for applying fibrous insulating material to fi conductor, the combination ofa carrier comprising a supporting plate or table and having an axial opening throgh ,which the conductor passes, means for rotating 'the c rrier on its axis, a hopper or chamber, carding means comprising carding rolls and a conveyer-belt moving in close proximity to the conductor. said hopper, rolls and belt being all mounted on the same side of'the table, shafts passing through the table to the carding rolls and conveyer-belt, and gearing connected to said-.shaft on the other side of the table to actuate the cardingmeans while the carrier rotates.

6. In apparatus for applying fibrous insulating material to a conductor the same about the conductor and for simultaneously iinparting relative movement to the conductor and carrier in a direction longitudlnalto the conductor; a carding surface mounted on the. carrier and adapted to deliver fiber to the wire, and driving connections for advancing the carding surface on its bearings on the carrier during rotation of thel latter to present fiber-bearing,r portions of said surface to the surface of the wire.

7. In apparatus for applying fibrous insulating material to a conductor Vor wire, a carrier and means for rotating thesame about the vconductor and for simultaneously imparting relative movement to the conductor and carrier in a direction longitudinal td the conductor, a carding surface mounted on'the `carrier and adapted to deliver fiber to the wire', means for delivering fiber to the carding surface, and driving connections for advancing the cardlng surface on its bearings on thecarrier during rotation of the latter to continuously present fiber-bearing portions of said surtace to the surface of the wire.

In testimony whereof I have sig'ned this specification in the presence of `two subscribing witnesses.

l LOUIS W. DOWNES. vWitnesses: v l

JAMES H.v THUns'roN, 4NnLLin BRADLEY.

or wire, a carrier and means for rotating.:l 

